Registering birth at 2.30 today - help me decide what goes on the birth certificate!

[underthewestway]

Registering son’s birth this afternoon. He is called after my dad, who was Joseph but always called Joe.

We will probably never refer to son as anything other than Joe so DP thinks we should register him as Joe but I’m not sure. Some sort of traditional part of me thinks we should go with Joseph and keep his options open (not sure what for!). But then again, I do prefer just Joe as his name.

What is the mumsnet verdict?

I have a Joseph. He's always joe to us, but he's now a lawyer and uses Joseph professionally.

Joseph

If you're naming him after your dad, register him as Joseph as that's your dad's name. As others have said, it gives him the option to call himself Joe, Joey, Joss, Seph etc.

My DDs both have formal first names although we generally use short versions of them. DD1 is now 15 and some of her friends use her full name - she has recently said that although she doesn't really think of herself as her full name, she's glad that's what's on her birth certificate in case she ever decides to reinvent herself.

Joseph or Joe are really lovely I think either option great
Let us know

Joseph!

Joseph

Lovely name.

You need a long version so he knows when he is in trouble

Joseph.

Going against the grain here and saying go with Joe. Why name him something he isn't?

Also employment will be very different at the time that he reaches that age, even now if I see a CV/business card with a longer old fashioned name that is usually shortened such as Joseph, Stephen etc then it's often their first part of the conversation that they say please call me Joe/Steve etc.

If he wants to change it later in life, it's easy enough to do so. I think all kids go through a stage of wanting a different name at some point, I did as mine was so common and gave no option for a nickname, my brother and best friend, because theirs is unusual and often gets shortened anyway. You can't win on that front!

Definitely Joseph.

Joseph. Lovely name - congratulations!

Definitely Joseph. My DS has a similar longer name on his birth cert and at school etc the shorter nickname is used. Never been a problem. He’s already realised that when he’s older he might like a more “grown up” nickname or his full name so we’re really pleased with the decision to register the full name.

Joseph

Joseph

Joseph. I had similar issue when ds2 was born. If he had been a girl I wanted e.g. Jo to be the name she goes by and I would of put Josephine on the birth certificate.
I just felt it gave them more options for when they are older. Most people would assume it was short for joseph anyway.

I think people presume that your real name is the longer name anyway.

So if you're just ''nick'' then you have to go through correcting that assumption that you must have Nicholas on the bc.

I would put Joseph on the certificate

Joseph.

Wow - thanks all! I wasn’t expecting so many quick responses

The nearly unanimous verdict has confirmed my instinct to go with Joseph. I agree with the majority of you who think it is better to have the choice in later life. I have a very traditional (long) name which I have never shortened, whereas DP goes by an abbreviation and gets irritated when people use the long form of his name, which probably explains our different perspectives. I didn’t realise you could register a shortened form at school, so thanks for that tip.

Now DP just needs to decide if he wants no middle name (DP doesn’t have one as his dad thought they were just an additional reason for boys to make fun of each other) or to have Henry, which was one of his grandad’s names). Don’t think I will know the outcome of that deliberation until we’re actually with the registrar.....!

Thanks again all

Joseph , if only for the fact that you are naming him after your dad who was called Joseph .

Joseph Henry is lovely .

Joseph. I know a Danny, Bobby, Freddie, Debbie and Charlie who hate that they were given a shortened name instead of the full version. They wanted the choice as they would prefer the original name for job applications etc. as it looks more serious and professional.

Joseph. Beautiful name.
My Jim is only James on his BC - even school records have him as Jim. It’s nice for them to have a proper name and a chosen name.

Joseph 100% on birth certificate

why name him something he isnt

Well at the moment what he is is a tiny baby whose parents call him Joe. But he won't be a tiny baby for ever and Joseph gives him choices and options he can use ,and change , over the 80 something years of his life expectancy.

He can call himself Joe on his business cards, or he can put Jospeph and asked to be called Joe, or he can put Joseph and be called Joseph.

He might want to be called J, or Jay, Jos or Joey. Who knows, but Joseph gives options that Joe removes.

Actually , unless he is dyslexic I don't think he will be using Jospeph.